Archive for the 'Fraud' Tag Under 'Register On Real Estate' Category

Orange County and other Southern California counties have been hit by a wave of real estate filings aimed at eliminating mortgages or halting foreclosures inspired by a loose-knit group of anti-government, anti-tax activists who question the U.S. government's authority and say most mortgages are illegitimate.

Called "sovereign citizens," the group has been around for decades. But its influence skyrocketed in recent years after the housing crash created a receptive audience of desperate homeowners.

The filings are worthless, officials say. But they're more than just a nuisance for county employees at recorder's offices.

Because some movement followers charge fees for seminars or foreclosure assistance, the FBI cautions that their approach amounts to foreclosure fraud.

Ann Fulmer is a lawyer and a mortgage fraud expert who co-authors the quarterly Interthinx Mortgage Fraud Risk Report.

She's a past president of the Georgia Real Estate Fraud Prevention and Awareness Coalition and has worked as a private investigator, county tax assessor, civil litigator and assistant district attorney prosecuting white collar crime. She frequently teaches FBI and Secret Service agents about mortgage fraud. We asked her what's happening with mortgage fraud …

Us: What's the total cost of U.S. mortgage fraud, and who's paying the bill?

The decrease is due mainly to a decline in the overall number of home loans being issued.

CoreLogic reports that fraud levels remain unchanged for for more than a year, meaning that percentage of loans that are tainted has been flat. But based on lower projected loan originations, the overall value of tainted mortgages is down.

March 9th, 2010, 4:45 pm by MARILYN KALFUS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Four members of an Orange County family -- including a mother and two daughters -- have been charged in a conspiracy to commit more than $16 million in real estate fraud by forging documents and buying homes using “straw buyers,” the Orange County District Attorney's office says.

Most urban counties in the region took advantage of a 1990s law allowing $2 fees for the filing of deeds, liens and other property records and created Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Funds to hold the cash generated by the fee. Orange County leaders, however, refused to do so, calling the $2 fee a tax.

Now comes this new law, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on July 21, upping the maximum fine for posing as a real estate agent to $20,000 and allowing local prosecutors to keep any of the fine money levied over the old maximum of $10,000. The catch? The county must have a Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund to keep any of the fine money.

So wouldn't it be worthwhile to create the fraud prosecution trust fund, even without the fee, so the county could keep part of the fine money?

The answer from the Orange County CEO and District Attorney offices: No.

Orange County is unable to take advantage of a new law that lets counties keep a portion of the fines levied against people caught working as real estate agents without a license because it's one of the few metropolitan counties in the state to resist setting up special fraud prosecution units and trust funds.

The new law, signed Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is designed to beef up weak enforcement of real estate license laws. Currently, the state Department of Real Estate can only issue desist and refrain orders to unlicensed agents, orders that are often ignored, state officials said. And prosecutors usually failed to act when such orders were ignored.

“These low-profile license violations were often overlooked unless there was substantial financial loss,” explained state Sen. Jack Scott, author of the new law, which will take effect on Jan. 1.

The measure increases maximum fines from $10,000 to $20,000 for individuals and from $50,000 to $60,000 for corporations. It also allows counties to keep any amount over $10,000 levied against individual perpetrators and any amount over $50,000 levied against unlicensed corporations..

But there's a catch. To keep the excess amount, the county first must have established a Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund, something that O.C. officials have consistently refused to do for at least 12 years.

The Associated Press reports this about one of O.C. billionaire Igor Olenicoff's bankers ...

Bradley Birkenfeld entered the plea of guilty to one count of conspiring to defraud the United States in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

Documents released Thursday in the case said that at one point Birkenfeld purchased diamonds using one client's Swiss bank account and smuggled the diamonds into the United States in a toothpaste tube. He and others also advised clients to purchase "jewels, artwork and luxury items" using funds in their Swiss bank accounts while overseas.

In Birkenfeld's case, prosecutors said he and others were helping California real estate magnate Igor Olenicoff hide millions of dollars in assets overseas.

Olenicoff, whose fortune is estimated at $1.6 billion by Forbes magazine, pleaded guilty last year to tax charges and agreed to pay the IRS more than $52 million in back taxes, penalties and interest. A Liechtenstein banker charged along with Birkenfeld, 43-year-old Mario Staggl, has been declared a fugitive.